If you were to travel nearly 1,000kms west of Brisbane along the Warrego Highway you would arrive at the township of Quilpie. It is there you would receive a warm welcome and an invitation to call in to the Shire’s Visitor Information Centre, Museum & Gallery to discover everything there is to learn about the township, … Read more

The Victoria Memorial Institute building was an important part of the Thursday Island landscape for around ninety years, before being demolished in the early 1990s to make way for new council offices. This photograph shows it as a well designed, impressive building with its name featured prominently over the front entrance. It would, no doubt, … Read more

On April 26, 1847, one of Brisbane’s first theatres gave its opening performance. In advertisements published in the Moreton Bay Courier, Mr George Croft’s Amphitheatre, situated in Russell Street, South Brisbane promised a spectacular show. George Croft, formerly of the Victoria Theatre in Sydney and Astley’s Royal Amphitheatre London, would perform numerous tightrope stunts including “an … Read more

State Library of Queensland has an extensive collection of historical maps of Queensland, some of which have been digitised and can be viewed online. This real estate map from 1926 advertises 102 allotments of land for sale at the Tarana Estate in the Brisbane suburb of Holland Park. The allotments were situated along Logan Road, Holland Road, … Read more

On March 3, 1953, more than 60,000 bottles of free milk were distributed to Brisbane students at 111 state schools, 37 independent schools and 15 pre-schools. Although the federal government had passed the State Grants (Milk for School Children) Act in December 1950, Queensland was the last state to introduce the scheme. Concern regarding distribution … Read more

Panoramic photographs are among the most powerful and evocative of historical images, their broad sweep enabling people to connect with the past and to easily identify the changes in their surrounding environment. State Library of Queensland has an extensive collection of panoramas from all corners of the State, spanning over 140 years. A selection of … Read more

State Library of Queensland has an extensive collection of historical maps of Queensland, some of which have been digitised and can be viewed online. This real estate map from October 1887 advertises over 550 allotments of land for sale at the second section of the Jubilee Township, located in the Brisbane suburb of Bardon. The first … Read more

This advertisement, published in 1897, shows what would have been a very important and familiar place for the residents of Thursday Island. At a time when access to health care was limited in terms of modern medical knowledge, chemists and druggists such as John Turnbull played a vital role in terms of people’s well being. … Read more

State Library of Queensland has an extensive collection of historical maps of Queensland, some of which have been digitised and can be viewed online. This real estate map from 1902 advertises 38 allotments of land for sale at the Gaul Estate in Gatton. The allotments were situated along Gaul Street, Hickey Street, Allan Street and Old … Read more

On May 30, 1957, thousands of shoppers attended the opening of Allan and Stark’s Chermside Drive-in Shopping Centre in Brisbane’s north. Set on 28 acres (11.33ha), it promised a shopping experience that would be “both fun and a thrill”. The £600,000 shopping complex was heralded as the first of its kind in Australia. Fifteen minutes … Read more